What Happens To Your GSIS Contribution After You Became An OFW

After the article about the SSS, the next question would be, what about the GSIS contribution. What happens to the GSIS contribution after one is separated from the government service.

Some of us who have decided to work abroad are former government employees. Whether you leave in search for greener pasture or a call of duty, when you need to join your husband who works abroad or for any other reason, your GSIS contribution is also stopped.

You must be wondering what happened to those contributions.

Here’s what I found out.

If you have been separated from the government service by resignation, retirement, disability, dismissal or retrenchment, you are considered an inactive member under Commonwealth Act No. 186, the law which created the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

OFWs who resigned from government service to work abroad fall in this category.

GSIS administers two kinds of life insurance policy: The Life Endowment Policy (LEP) and the Enhanced Life Policy.

The LEP insurance coverage issued to GSIS members who entered the government service before 1 August 2003.

The ELP insurance coverage issued to GSIS members who entered the government service after 31 July 2003.

Below is the table showing the benefits under the LEP and the ELP. Just to differentiate.

Life Endowment Policy

Enhanced Life Policy

Maturity Benefit

No Maturity Benefit

1) Cash Surrender Value

1) Termination Value (TV) which is 25% of monthly life insurance premium paid.

2) Waiver of premiums due to permanent disability (PTD)

2) No waiver of premiums due to permanent disability (PTD)

3) Death Benefit

3) Death benefit

4) Accidental death benefit

4) (No accidental death benefit)

5) Annual dividend

5) Annual dividend

6) Policy loan (50% of CSV)

6) Policy loan (90% of TV)

If you are separated from the service before the maturity of your insurance policy, which means you have not rendered at least 15 years of service, under the LEP, you will be entitled to the cash surrender value (CSV) or the cash value of the policy earned during the term of the insurance and is payable to members, less all outstanding obligations when they resign or separate from the service before the maturity of the insurance or when they incur permanent disability.

Under the ELP however you will be entitled to the terminal value (TV) or the accumulated amount earned based on premium payment while the ELP is in force which is 25% of the monthly life insurance premium paid.

To illustrate:

This is the catch: under LEP, there is no prescription period, meaning claim can be filed any time. But under ELP, claim should be filed within four (4) years from the time of separation from government service and will only be payable at age 60.

What If You Work For Both Government and Private Sector

If you are not entitled for pension benefit from both GSIS and SSS because you were unable to meet the required periods of service or the number of contributions and you have less than 120 months of SSS contribution or less than 180 months of creditable government service, at the time of retirement, Republic Act 7699 or the Portability Laws provides for the totalization or adding up of the period of creditable service or contributions under both SSS and GSIS for the purpose of eligibility and computation of benefits.

The amount of benefit to be paid by both GSIS and SSS will be proportionate to the service rendered or periods of contributions made to each.

The benefit under the law is in the form of monthly pension at age 60.